-
Margaret Thatcher backed secret plan to wipe out cocaine crops by unleashing swarms of leaf-eating moths over drug cartel plantations
Newly released government files reveal that Margaret Thatcher’s government secretly backed a plan to destroy South American cocaine crops by releasing swarms of moths whose larvae feed on coca plants. The proposal, discussed at the height of the 1980s “war on drugs”, aimed to use a biological agent to devastate coca plantations run by drug…
-
Cut £175 from energy bills for low-income homes, says thinktank
The Resolution Foundation has urged the government to introduce an emergency scheme to cut energy bills by up to £175 this winter for low-income households, warning that wholesale gas prices are likely to rise following renewed conflict in the Middle East. The thinktank says ministers should act now to have a plan ready for when…
-
Water shortages hit Iran, US energy costs bite as Hassett admits fuel pain
Fuel prices stay high amid Iran tensions, Smithsonian funding under scrutiny, a South Wales family’s anguish over an early release, and Liverpool’s pre-season defensive worries after a Monaco collapse.
-
The Best Games Like Dungeon Crawler Carl
Polygon has published a guide matching video games to the floors of Matt Dinniman’s “Dungeon Crawler Carl” book series, offering readers ways to experience the sci-fi/fantasy setting interactively. The article pairs each of the first several books with a game that captures the tone or mechanics of that particular dungeon floor, aimed at fans wanting…
-
Australia news live: transport minister calls in Airservices Australia for urgent meeting after Sydney airport chaos
Australia’s federal transport minister, Catherine King, has called an urgent meeting with Airservices Australia after a near-miss between two aircraft on the tarmac at Sydney airport, the country’s busiest. The intervention follows several days of delays and mounting safety concerns, with reports pointing to insufficient air traffic controller numbers as a contributing factor at the…
-
FC 26 FUTTIES Team 4 players and release countdown
EA Sports is preparing to launch the fourth and final team of its FUTTIES promotion in FC 26, with early leaks starting to circulate on social media ahead of the reveal. The event caps off the game’s FUTTIES campaign, which spotlights specially boosted cards, before the game gradually shifts focus towards the endgame content that…
-
Manchester mayor faces funding questions over cost-of-living measures
Andy Burnham has pledged to crack down on “rip-off” subscription traps and deceptive discounts as part of a wider cost-of-living package, but the plans have drawn criticism over their cost and how they will be funded. Rules requiring firms to make subscriptions easier to cancel and to disclose costs more clearly, rather than quietly auto-renewing…
-
Moscow, Kyiv assassins hunt weapons bosses as Ukraine war spills beyond the battlefield
A new and dangerous front has opened in the Russia-Ukraine war, with attackers and suspected intelligence operatives increasingly targeting executives and engineers behind the drone technology now central to the fighting, industry experts warned. Rather than remaining confined to the battlefield, the conflict is spreading into assassination attempts, bombings and alleged espionage plots aimed at…
-
Senate leaves town without voting on crypto bill, dimming its chances of passing
The Senate adjourned without voting on the CLARITY Act, a cryptocurrency-market-structure bill, weakening its prospects of becoming law in the current legislative period. The delay matters because the measure is intended to clarify how digital-asset markets are regulated and which federal agencies oversee them, an issue long sought by parts of the crypto industry. Without…
-
Cyclospora fears are sending shoppers to farmers markets for local produce
An outbreak of Cyclospora infections in the United States is prompting some shoppers to switch to farmers markets in search of locally grown produce they perceive as safer than supermarket alternatives. In Ohio, demand for homegrown lettuce has risen sharply, with vendors at some farmers markets reportedly selling out of greens within 30 to 60…